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Tuesday, July 21, 2009

Outdoor Movies on the Big Screen

People arrive at Manhattan and Brooklyn parks hours before showtime to stake their claim with a comfy blanket and a picnic. Last Wednesday, we were among the herd.

1) "Vicky Christina Barcelona" was playing at Pier 54 at Hudson River Park.2) I'm slowly making my way through Woody Allen films.3) It was my birthday.

Perfect combination.

We arrived at 6:30 p.m., two hours before the scheduled start, so we got a seat nice and close to the screen. Others were relegated to spots so far away that seeing the English subtitles for the Spanish bits of the film was probably a near impossibility.

A pier isn't the most comfortable place to sit for several hours, but luckily we brought a thick blanket, and the weather was just as perfect as the sunset over the Hudson River and New Jersey.

It was an excellent experience, and one I'd like to repeat at a real park (i.e., with grass) a little closer to home. Unfortunately, infrequent night trains meant we didn't get home until close to midnight.

One of my co-workers recently said that one of the best kinds of films to see outdoors in New York City is a movie set in New York City. I haven't yet had that pleasure. But now I'm more than willing to give it a try.